A Taste of Summer Dusk
by darkbloodylegs
Summary: Teenage Arthur finds himself locked once again in the library with Francine. Francine/Arthur


Stretching his long legs out, his bones making luxurious popping sounds, Arthur Read reclined on the cushioned sofa of the public library, a comic book propped on his arm as he snuggled down deeper. He frowned as his feet touched the floor—there was once a time when he had been able to lay down entirely on the sofa, feet at one end and head at the other. It was clear that those days were long over. At fifteen years old, he was five foot ten and still growing. He was leggy yet skinny, with huge hands and feet. It seemed as if something was always odd about his proportions these days; one day his nose would be too large and the next his ears would stick out too much. However, the absentminded boy rarely noticed this; that is, when his twelve-year-old sister D.W. didn't point out the flaws.

He thumbed through the pages of the well-worn comic idly before setting it aside, lazily kicking off his shoes as he enjoyed the warmth of the sun peaking in through the library windows to land in a yellow patch directly on him. He gave a yawn, jaw popping as he observed the surroundings through half-lidded eyes. Binky Barnes, now hulking at well over six feet tall, hunched over at one of the battered wooden tables across from Brain, assisting (hindering, really) the Brain with self-assigned Physics homework. Brain had matured into a sickeningly handsome teenager whom girls often gathered, simpering, around but he took no notice, instead focusing all of his time and energy on his studies, determined to make it into one of the best collages that intelligence could achieve. He continued to work a part-time job at his parent's ice-cream shop and even had time for friends, but for the most part his life was all in the books.

Sue Ellen sat delicately on a window seat, the sun behind her causing a shadow of her pointy ears to reach Arthur's sofa. Her tail was wrapped primly around her hips and to a stranger's eyes she would seem completely engrossed in her book on Ethiopian cuisine, but to anybody who knew her well, like Arthur, it would be quite clear that she was secretly peeking at Brain over the pages. At the other end of the library, the attractive yet still shy Fern chatted with Mrs. Turner, who was still employed as the librarian even though small silver streaks were now intermingled with her vibrant red hair.

Sighing, completely content with the familiarity of the surroundings, Arthur allowed his blue eyes to close all the way behind his glasses as he dozed on the couch, happy that he was here, at one of the best places in Ellwood City, and that it was the third day of summer vacation, and that he was young and happy and had three months with no school, to spend with his friends.

Arthur must've been more tired than he realized, because it was several hours later when a hand grabbed his shoulder and a familiar voice bellowed in his ear "He-_llo! _ARTHUR! Hey, wake up!" Groggy, slightly crusted eyes opened and he looked through his glasses at the stern face of Francine Frensky. He sat up, leaving a small puddle of drool on the red fabric of the old sofa as he did so.

"Huh? Francine?" He looked around himself. The library was now empty; the sun from the window was gone, leaving him slightly chilly, and he felt confusion in his belly.

His friend continued to glare at him. "Arthur, you did it again!"

The teenaged aardvark must have been quite groggy, because he was only able to gape at the girl, his glasses slightly askew and his mouth still hanging open rather stupidly. Francine rolled her brown eyes, crossing her arms in her trademark impatient manner.

"We got locked in the library together. _Again. _Look!" she pointed at the wall-mounted clock, which read 6:30 pm. "See? The library closed an hour and a half ago!"

The realization and memories trailed like sludgy snails into his brain, and for a moment or two he sat like a couch potato, staring at her. Then he burst out with a slightly-too-loud "_What_! No _way_!"

The same thing had happened to the two friends when they were but youngsters. This was absolutely unbelievable. Few people got locked in a library even _once _in their lives but these two had had it happen to them _twice_?

Finally, Francine smiled, revealing straight white teeth (one of the front ones being chipped). Arthur couldn't help but smile back; that chipped tooth smile was very contagious. Soon the two were laughing; Arthur draped over the arm of the sofa, Francine trying and failing to hold back the inevitable snort that followed her every peal of mirth. Finally, Arthur stood, wiping his streaming eyes with the back of his hand.

"Alright, come on," he beckoned, leading her to the windows. "You know the drill. First we go make stacks of books under the windows so that we can climb up and unlock them, and then—"

"And then!" Francine interrupted enthusiastically, "we go through the file cabinets and look for a book about how to escape from a library and when _that _doesn't work—"

"We go to the staff room and eat all of the librarian's junk food!" Arthur finished. They smiled, slightly giddy from the nostalgia. Francine's smile faded as a thought occurred to her.

"Only, I don't think they'll _have _so much junk food anymore; remember Mrs. Turner going on that diet this year? I bet it'll be all healthy stuff." The slight disappointed pout to her voice soon had Arthur snickering and she eventually joined in as the two made their way to the tall, latched windows. There they stood underneath, looking up at them, and the same thought occurred to the fifteen-year-olds in unison.

"Hey…" Arthur began wonderingly. "You don't think…"

"Might as well try it," Francine insisted confidently. Without waiting for an invitation, she launched herself on top of Arthur's back. "Give me a boost, would you?"

"_Uugh!" _He complained loudly, his knees shaking under the extra weight as he attempted to straighten up. "You're… too… _heavy_!"

"Don't be such a baby," she told him nonchalantly as she stretched her arm as high as it would go, reaching for the latch. Her fingertips brushed the brass knob. "Easy does it…" Arthur tried not to teeter as Francine successfully unclipped the latch. "_There_" came her triumphant exclamation. With that, Arthur fell to his knees, sending her toppling to the floor where her head collided with the wheel of a book cart. She let out a pained gasp at the impact and he hurried to her side.

"Francine! I'm sorry! I…" His hands fluttered nervously and his words came out in a stutter as he quickly assessed her head for damage. Two brown eyes glared up at him and her strong hands shot up to push him back.

"Humph. For possibly permanently damaging my _beautiful _head," she began sternly, "_you _now have to buy me pizza." She quickly scrambled to her feet and sauntered to the now-slightly-open window, peeking outside as she half-heartedly patted down her ruffled brown hair.

"One might think you thought I was _fat _or something," she tossed over her shoulder to Arthur, a small grin on her face. In the light from the street lamp outside, her face nearly glowed and Arthur was taken aback at her appearance. Her eyes glowed with an inner warm confidence and she stood with the poise of Ellwood City's ace sportswoman. Cocky, determined, bold and fearless, Francine Frensky was very much still the tomboy of her youth. A small, nearly invisible scar garnished her chin and Arthur was reminded of that one epic softball game a good four summers ago, where the winning run Francine had scored felt much more like a loss. Arthur still recalled the scream she had uttered, the blood-curdling exclamation of pain, as she had tripped and the sharp metal edge of the plate (third plate) had dug into her chin. She had gotten up and continued to run even as droplets of blood decorated the field behind her and Arthur had been helpless to do anything but watch, filled with horror and admiration, as his wounded friend made it to home plate. It had taken two stitches afterward to close up the cut.

'_I probably know _all _of her scars,' _Arthur thought to himself, somewhat surprised. '_I was there for most of them, anyway.' _Reaching out a hand, he automatically ruffled her chin-length hair as he had done a thousand times before, receiving the expected scowl.

"Ow! My head still hurts, you know." She batted his hand away.

"Sorry."

The two turned back towards the window, the one they had finally succeeded in unlocking, and Arthur thoughtfully went in search of a chair before Francine could try leaping on his now sore back once again. Dragging it underneath the window, he gestured for her to stand on it.

"After you!"

She regarded him suspiciously. "_You _just don't want to dive out of the window first until you see if there's, like, a cactus under it or something. _Baby._"

Arthur was so accustomed to the jibe that he barely reacted. He opted for flattery. Batting his eyes behind his glasses, he attempted to appear innocent. "What are you _talking _about, Francine? I'd _never _do that to _you_!"

"Hmmph." The suspicious look on her face did not fade, but she obligingly pushed the window open, allowing the warm summer evening air to settle in the building, before carelessly flinging one leg over the edge of the window, then the other. Sitting on the windowsill, she gave him a wave over her shoulder before dropping with an almost instantaneous _whumph _sound following, indicating that her feet had, indeed, landed on solid ground.

"C'mon, Arthur! No cactus."

He rolled his eyes before following her lead, but landed on the dirt far less gracefully. Pain shot up his leg from the impact and his eyes watered. _"Aah!" _

Immediately a hand went around his arm, pulling him upright. "Arthur? What did you—_oh, _I _hate _it when that happens!" she groused sympathetically. Wrapping an arm around one of his shoulders, she dragged him forward. He laughed through the pain.

"Let's get pizza to make you feel better," she insisted again, digging in his pocket for his wallet. He laughed, batting her away.

"Cut it out, Francine! Ok, ok, fine; _one slice each._" He removed the wallet himself and fished for the correct change as they made their way to Carmelo's, a small, inexpensive pizza restaurant run by Carmelo Zendejas, the friendly neighborhood goat.

It was a fairly lengthy walk and as they ambled along the dusty sidewalks through several house-lined blocks, Francine babbled constantly. She talked about baseball team signups, and how excited she was for the new community pool being built. She talked about her and her sister's plan to visit the lake next month, and the newest Scare-Your-Pants-Off book coming out. She was absolutely brimming with stories and plans and ideas, while Arthur, for some reason, could only dwell in memories this night.

He was reminded of square-dance days in the gym during the long-ago days of elementary schools, and that one bowling game that they had one championship in. His mind kept conjuring up pictures of the girl in front of him as she used to be; when she had gotten that ridiculous hairdo with Muffy and then beamed as if she wasn't being made fun of during picture day. He recalled the screams of the crowd as she and Jenny had had a karate face off, with Francine the inevitable victor. And as he mused, he realized with a start that this girl he saw before him had _always _been before him. Had always been in the sandbox with him, or at the lunch table, or the movies, or _wherever_ he had been. Arthur could imagine no life without Francine.

"Arthur?" she was saying, giving him a funny look, and he snapped out of his musings.

"H-huh?"

"You were looking at me kind of funny. Are you listening to me?" without waiting for an answer, she continued. "We're almost at Carmelo's. I think you should buy me a grape Popsicle to go with my pizza slice. Since, you know, I'm awesome and you should always buy awesome people grape popsicles. Anyway, what are you doing this weekend?"

It took Arthur a moment to think. She was switching through topics rather quickly, as she was wont to do.

"Um… I think I'm going camping with my dad and Buster and the Brain. Maybe Binky."

"Oh, _I _see. Guys only, huh, not inviting me along?"

"You can come if you want." _As always_, he almost added.

"Why would I want to?" she wrinkled her nose teasingly.

Arthur shrugged and pulled his mind forward to focus on opening the little restaurant door that tinkled with a small bell as it was pushed. He greeted Carmelo with a high-five, ordering two pepperonis and putting a dollar in the vending machine to receive a grape Popsicle, before sighing and slipping in his last dollar as well. If Francine was getting a grape Popsicle, he felt he deserved a raspberry one.

"See you later, Carmelo," they called over their shoulders as the door _tinkled _shut behind them. They ate their slices on their slow walk back, and the two fell into a solemn mood as the Popsicle juice dribbled down their fingers. Summer at dusk always tended to cause the residents of El Wood city to reflect, take things a little slower. The dry heat, the dusty wind, the silence with the almost country quality of the crickets always seemed to put one in a musing mood. It was a time when one could slow down and be calmly honest to oneself.

They took their shoes off as they walked, their bare feet turning darker as dust clung to their skin, feeling good on their toes. Francine crumpled up her Popsicle wrapper, popping it into her pocket as she licked the final dab of pizza grease off her arm.

When they met the buttery yellow light that spilled into the road from Arthur's windows, the two stood side-by-side for a moment, not wanting to end their small tryst of calm solemnity. Arthur kept stealing glances at Francine, trying to understand why all of the memories and the future plans he had with her were causing a small, happy bubbling sensation in his stomach, and why, when he looked at her, he was reminded of the sensation of looking directly into the sun.

"Well," he finally began, planning to tell her goodnight before going inside. And, as always, Francine Frensky was one step ahead of him. For when he opened his mouth to say the words, the girl darted forward, quick as a striking snake, and mashed her lips against Arthur's. He stood still, shock making his brain sluggish in trying to figure out what was going on. He felt her chipped tooth rather painfully encounter his bottom lip and a sudden slurry of the happiness bubbled in his stomach. He felt rather as if he were teetering at the very top of a roller coaster, the moment of fear and giddy anticipation as his body began lifting from the seat as the front began tilting down.

Awkwardly putting an arm around the back of her head, Arthur kissed Francine back, now feeling as if he were whooshing down the roller coaster track, screaming in jubilation and a deep understanding of life's most basic truths.

It could only have been a second before Francine pulled away with a most un-Francine-ish giggle.

"Well, g'night Arthur!" she called to him before she ran off in the direction of her apartment. Arthur stared after her as she went before touching his mouth with his fingertips. The faint taste of grape Popsicle mingled with the taste of raspberry, and a grin began creeping its way across his stunned features.

Numbly, he entered his house where his family and Pal waited for him. The grin remained on his face as he passed his parents with a dazed "hello and past DW who sat in the Family Room watching television with her friend Emily. DW looked up suspiciously as he floated past her, his feet seemingly only brushing the carpet in the haze his mind was in.

"What's so funny?" she asked, brows lowered distrustfully.

"Nothing!" he gave his younger sister a wide smile as he entered his bedroom, lying on his back on his bed as he continued to give the ceiling the same silly grin.

"Nothing?" he heard her call incredulously to him. "You're up to something; I just know it!" she stood with her hands on her hips in dubious skepticism.

Arthur began to laugh with a deep, rumbling belly laugh.

It was going to be the best summer ever; Arthur could just feel it.

_Fin_


End file.
